The present inventions pertain to the field of security documents, and more particularly, to secure envelopes that facilitate the detection of dangerous foreign substances contained therein.
The importance of making the mail safe from insidious persons who desire to wreak havoc on the recipients of such mail has very recently become a national security issue. Previously, mail recipients needed only to be concerned with packages that were large enough to conceal explosive devices. Because standard-sized envelopes are typically not large enough to contain such devices, a recipient of an envelope sent through the postal service need not have been concerned by the simple act of opening the envelope. In the wake of biological warfare waged upon the citizens of the United States by terrorists, and their use of the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a convenient and pervasive conduit for such warfare, it has become evident that even envelopes may contain a hidden danger. In particular, it is now conceivable, and most probable in the future, that dangerous biological agents, such as Anthrax, can be concealed in envelopes in a powder form, and spread to the unfortunate recipient of the envelope when opened.
There thus is a need to provide an envelope that can easily be inspected for dangerous foreign substances contained therein without having to open the envelope, which may otherwise expose the handler of the envelope to the dangerous foreign substance.
The present inventions are directed to envelopes that carry registered front and rear see-through windows and internal security backgrounds that allow a mail handler or recipient of a sealed envelope to inspect its contents for potentially harmful granular/powder substances without ever opening the envelope.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present inventions, a security envelope comprises a first see-through window disposed on the front of the envelope, and a second see-through window disposed on the rear of the envelope, wherein the windows are registered with each other. The entireties of the windows need not be registered and need not be the same size. Rather, only enough of the windows that allows light to pass through the envelope is needed. In one non-limiting preferred embodiment, the windows are integral and are wrapped around an edge of the envelope to form the windows on the front and back of the envelope. In another non-limiting preferred embodiment, the windows can be formed of discrete pieces of material. In any event, the windows are preferably positioned adjacent an envelope edge, so that the document or documents enclosed within the envelope do not fully obstruct light passing through the windows. Optionally, a second set of windows is disposed on the envelope, such as, e.g., near the edge opposite to where the first set of windows is positioned. In this manner, at least one of the window sets will always be unobstructed by an enclosed envelope regardless of how the document is positioned in the envelope.
The envelope may optionally comprise a particle attracting substance, such as, e.g., a tacky or electrostatic substance, disposed on the insides of either or both of the windows. In this manner, the granular/powder substance will be more apt to stick to the windows, thereby clouding them and alerting the observer of a potential risk within the envelope. The particle attracting substance can optionally be applied to selected portions of the windows, such that a latent message appears on the window when exposed to the granular/powder substance. In this manner, an additional security measure for alerting the observer of a potential risk is provided. The windows can either be clear or colored to enhance the visual appearance of the granular/powder substance.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present inventions, a security envelope comprises a see-through window disposed on one side of the envelope, and a security background disposed on the inner surface of the other side of the envelope. The entireties of the window and background need not be registered and need not be the same size. Rather, only enough of the window and background that allows the background to be inspected through the window is required. The window and background are preferably positioned adjacent an envelope edge, so that documents enclosed within the envelope do not fully obstruct the background. Optionally, another window/background set can be disposed on the envelope, such as, e.g., near the edge opposite to where the first window/background set is positioned. In this manner, at least one of the backgrounds will always be unobstructed by an enclosed envelope. Even more optionally, a second window can be disposed on the other side of the envelope and registered with the first window, such that light is transmitted through the envelope. In this case, the security background may be adjacent the second window, such that both the security background and the second window can be viewed through the first window. The first and second windows may be discrete or integral, as previously described.
As previously described, a particle attracting substance can optionally be disposed on the inner surface of the window with similar substance alerting results. Even more optionally, the security background can be printed in a particle attracting ink, such as, e.g., a tacky or electrostatic substance. The security background is preferably of a composition that indicates to the observer that the envelope was sent from a trusted source. For example, the security background can be composed of a thermally-activated latent image that appears in the presence of heat.
Alternatively, the security background can be composed of a plurality of nano-structures that appear as an integral pattern, but under magnification, appear as individual identifying elements. For example, the nano-structures can form an encrypted code, which when decrypted, reveals a predetermined and known message. Each of the nano-structures can be so small as to form a half-tone element, replacing the standard half-tone dots that are typically used in the printing process. In this case, each half-tone element can be derived from an image, such as a company logo, a picture, or message. Not only can the nano-structures indicate to the observer that the envelope was sent from a trusted source, the nano-structures can affirmatively alert the observer of the existence of a granular/powder substance, which will tend to obstruct or otherwise distort or diffuse the individual nano-structures under magnification. In this case, the nano-structures need not be formatted to indicate a trusted source of the envelope, although preferably the nano-structures have some uniqueness to them to provide additional security.
In accordance with a third aspect of the present inventions, stationery comprises an envelope and a substrate (such as, e.g., a document) for placement within the envelope, a security background disposed on the document, and a see-through window disposed on one side of the envelope. Thus, rather than disposing the security background on the envelope itself, the security background is disposed on the document, such as, e.g., on the edge of the document. The envelope and document can be of a standard size, or to alternatively, any size. The importance is that the sizes of the envelope and document, and the position of the window, are coordinated, such that when the document is inserted into the envelope, the security background on the document is registered with the window. The window and background can optionally have additional security features as previously described.
In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present inventions, a security envelope comprises a see-through window that is disposed on one side of the envelope, and a particle attracting substance (such as, e.g., a tacky or electrostatic substance) disposed on at least a portion of the inner window surface. In one non-limiting embodiment, the particle attracting substance coats an entirety of the inner window surface, and in another non-limiting embodiment, the particle attracting substance coats selected portions of the inner window surface to achieve varying effects, such as, e.g., producing a latent image or message. Optionally, another see-through window can be provided on the other side of the envelope and registered with the first window to achieve the results previously described herein.
In accordance with a fifth aspect of the present inventions, a particle attracting substance, such as, e.g., a tacky or electrostatic substance, can coat all or a portion of the inner surface of an envelope, such that any granular/powder substance sticks to the inside of the envelope, thereby preventing, or at least minimizing, the dispersal of the granular/powder substance into the air when the envelope is opened. In this manner, the risk that the mail handler or recipient will breathe the dangerous substance in upon opening the envelope is minimized. This feature can be used in combination with the other features disclosed herein, or alternatively as a stand-alone feature.